19366_Authority_August

municipalauthorities.org │ 59 exploring all available funding options, utility leaders can help protect their ratepayers from current and potential future costs. Below are examples of funding sources that have benefited Pennsylvania municipal authorities in recent years: • PENNVEST (the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority) is a financing authority addressing water and wastewater projects through low-cost loans. (www.pa.gov/ agencies/pennvest#accordion- faae38750c-item-b5eebf41c8) • The CleanWater State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) Emerging Contaminants program has provided wastewater utilities impacted by PFAS contamination with historic funding to support treatment system upgrades and other projects over the past five years. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) appropriated $1 billion to the CWSRF specifically to address emerging contaminants (www.epa. gov/cwsrf/clean-water-state-revolving- fund-emerging-contaminants) , to be distributed over fiscal years 2022- 2026. IIJA funding is set to expire on Sept. 30, 2026, which may leave utilities to seek alternative sources to fill funding gaps. Even if the program is reauthorized, CWSRF funds cannot be used for routine monitoring, operations, or maintenance under current rules. • The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program (www. rd.usda.gov/programs-services/water- environmental-programs/water-waste- disposal-loan-grant-program) provides long-term, low-interest loans in eligible rural areas. Loans may be combined with grants if funds are available. This program is available to rural areas and towns with populations of 10,000 or less, as well as rural tribal lands and colonias. Even taking these funding programs into account, many clean water agencies may still face financial challenges due to PFAS if the current trend toward regulation continues. The costs shouldered by utilities will go far beyond the initial planning and construction of treatment plants to remove and destroy PFAS or reduce biosolids volume. Facilities will require continued funding for operations and maintenance for years to come. Estimates of the total cost to manage PFAS in wastewater vary, but a 2023 report by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (www.pca.state. mn.us/news-and-stories/groundbreaking- study-shows- unaffordable-costs-of-pfas- cleanup-from-wastewater) found that technologies and expenses needed to remove and destroy PFAS from wastewater in Minnesota alone would cost between $14 and $28 billion over 20 years. To prepare for these unprecedented costs, many wastewater utility leaders are seeking alternative funding strategies to fill the gaps left by traditional sources. Holding PFAS Manufacturers Accountable As requirements tighten across the country, Pennsylvania municipal authorities can learn from proactive wastewater leaders who have already taken steps to safeguard their systems from potential PFAS challenges. Many are positioning themselves for cost recovery through litigation, which puts the burden of responsibility squarely where it belongs: on the manufacturers that created the problem in the first place. One such system is Pittsburgh Water, formerly known as the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority. The largest combined water, wastewater, and stormwater authority in Pennsylvania, it provides service to over 500,000 customers throughout the City of Pittsburgh and surrounding areas. Pittsburgh Water has proactively monitored PFAS concentrations in its drinking water since 2018, well in advance of any testing requirements. Although the utility’s water has never exceeded the U.S. EPA's proposed maximum contaminant levels for any regulated PFAS and remains in full compliance with state and federal regulatory limits, low-level trace PFAS concentrations have been detected. In response, Pittsburgh Water filed a lawsuit against PFAS manufacturers, seeking to recover both current monitoring costs and potential future expenses it could incur if regulations tightened or PFAS levels increased. Recognizing that its costs could grow even further if regulations were enacted for PFAS in wastewater, the utility included claims for impacts to both drinking water and wastewater in its legal complaint. By pursuing B Y EXPLORING ALL AVAILABLE FUNDING OPTIONS , UTILITY LEADERS CAN HELP PROTECT THEIR RATEPAYERS FROM CURRENT AND POTENTIAL FUTURE COSTS .